Indian law enforcement unaccountable in journalist attacks

Anyone who has been to India or is familiar with the country
knows how chaotic it can be: from the congestion on the streets of Delhi to the
messy way in which democracy functions. And for journalists, covering the chaos
of India can be risky business. This week alone, Indian law enforcement
officials assaulted two journalists covering demonstrations in different
corners of the country.

On Monday, seven officers belonging to a security force in eastern
Odisha state allegedly beat Subhakanta
Padhiary, a correspondent for an unspecified Odiya-language daily, while he was
covering demonstrations staged by members of the opposition party outside the chief
minister's home. "All of a sudden about seven [officers] came to our bike and
started beating me with lathi [sticks]. They continued thrashing us even after
we showed them our ID card," Padhiary told local media. One senior police
officer even walked away from the scene as officers continued beating the scribe,
reports
said.

A day later, in India's restive, northern-most state of
Jammu and Kashmir, police officers attacked
Muneeb-ul-Islam, a photojournalist for local news agency Current News Service, as
he was covering demonstrations outside a local hospital related to a young
man's mysterious death. "I was attacked by policemen with bamboo sticks
continuously for 15 minutes," he told CPJ by email. While two senior police
officers intervened to stop the assault, they also directed an officer to confiscate
Islam's camera. The officer forced Islam to delete his photographs.

Assaults like these are not uncommon in the world's largest
democracy. While neither journalist was seriously injured in these recent
assaults, covering demonstrations can turn deadly in India. During nationwide
protests against sexual assault that broke out in December, cameraman Dwijamani Singh of
the Prime News channel was shot
dead by police in Imphal, the capital of the northeastern state of Manipur.
Later that month, police fired
tear gas and water cannons to disperse journalists and demonstrators on the
streets of Delhi and beat
them with batons.

These assaults are emblematic of India's failure to respect
members of the press. In the Odisha incident, two officers were suspended,
according to local reports.
In the Kashmir incident, no action has been taken against the offending
officers, Islam told CPJ. And in Singh's case, the Manipur state government
ordered a probe into the killing, but the results have not been made public,
according to news reports.
India's National Human Rights Commission has called for "appropriate action" to
be taken, but there is no indication that anyone has been held to account,
according to the reports.

The Indian Reserve Battalions fall under the jurisdiction of
the central government and the police fall under the purview of the various
state governments. It is high time that these law enforcement bodies be trained
not to attack the press and to spread a clear message that such attacks are
completely unacceptable in a democracy. Taking swift, severe action against
these purported guardians of the law is one way to ensure that the message does
not get lost in India's chaos.

Sumit Galhotra is the research associate for CPJ's Asia program. He served as CPJ's inaugural Steiger Fellow and has worked for CNN International, Amnesty International USA, and Human Rights Watch. He has reported from London, India, and Israel and the Occupied Territories, and specializes in human rights and South Asia.